Partition of Estate

6 ECTS credits
180 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 4023062FNR for all students in the 2nd semester at a (F) Master - specialised level.

Semester

2nd semester

Enrollment based on exam contract

Impossible

Grading method

Grading (scale from 0 to 20)

Can retake in second session

Yes

Enrollment Requirements

De student is ingeschreven in een traject waar het opleidingsonderdeel voorkomt.

Taught in

Dutch

Partnership Agreement

Under interuniversity agreement for degree program

Faculty

Faculty of Law and Criminology

Department

Private Law

Educational team

Elisabeth Alofs (course titular)
Anne-Sophie Vandenbosch
Pieter-Jan De Decker

Activities and contact hours

26 contact hours Lecture
13 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
20 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study

Course Content

This course analyses the legal rules within the framework of a partition of estate. The rules governing liquidation and division of a succession or the community between spouses married under a community system, are covered. Furthermore, the rules regarding partition of estate in case of divorce or death of spouses married under a separation of property regime or in case of a break up or death of unmarried partners (registered and/or de facto cohabitation) is covered. Besides the relevant legislation, the evolutions in jurisprudence, legal scholarship and notary practice are studied.In that sense, this course builds on the courses 'Law of persons and family law' and 'Family property law' (BA Law) and forms the link to the in-depth course 'Notarial family law' (Master of Laws in Notarial Studies).

In this course subject attention is given to the rules of substantive law, as well as to the procedural aspects of liquidation and division of estate. Regarding substantive law, attention is paid to starting a case of partition of estate including collection and processing information; drawing up a proposal for division or a statement of liquidation from a community as well as an inheritance including the inheritance which is accepted under benefit of beneficiary; the liquidation and division of community of property including assets and liabilities, compensations, rules regarding the division the preferential allocation of the family home or professional assets; etc. Regarding the procedural aspects the following is covered: the settlements and judicial liquidation-division, including procedures regarding sealing and description of estate and the procedure of judicial liquidation and division.

In this course all aspects of liquidation and division are handled from a theoretical and practical perspective. The theoretical principles, legislation and important jurisprudence and legal scholarship are covered during the lectures. In addition the course subject includes seminars where the student becomes familiar with a scientifically based method of liquidation and division. With the help of the computer program Excel, students learn to apply the theoretical principles on actual cases with specific problems which arise in practice.

Course material

Handbook (Required) : Vereffening en Verdeling. Studentensyllabus. (Partition of Estate. Student course)., Elisabeth Alofs - Pieter-Jan De Decker - Anne-Sophie Vandenbosch, Intersentia (Antwerpen), 9789400013407, 2021
Digital course material (Required) : Vereffening en Verdeling. Slides. (Partition of Estate. Slides)., Elisabeth Alofs e.a., Electronic learning platform.
Practical course material (Required) : A recent civil and judicial code.

Additional info

Lectures, combined with computer lessons and independent study.

Attendance of the computer lessons is compulsory in order to gain entrance to the exam. During the computer lessons, students become familiar with the computer program, Excel, used for a settlement and division of property. Following the computer lessons and practising at home enables the student to master this technique; prior knowledge of Excel is not required. The first computer lesson strives to refresh the basic principles for those who require it.

For more information about the concrete design of this course: see the electronic learning platform.

Learning Outcomes

General competencies

The student:

knows the applicable legislation which governs the partition of real estate, from sealing and estate description, including claim to liquidation, the job of the inventory notary, the exchange between the tasks of attorneys, judge and notary in this context (i.e. the procedural aspects regarding liquidation and division).
possesses knowledge and competencies to deal with a case of partition both of the joint estate, communal property in the principle of separate property during marriage or de facto cohabitation as of an inheritance (i.e. the substantive law aspects regarding liquidation and division).
is able to resolve judicial questions which may arise in a case of partition of estate and propose creative but legal solutions, taking into account the applicable regulations, legislation and legal scholarship.
possesses the workings of liquidation and division
is able to independently solve a case of liquidation-division of a joint estate in a fluent, judicially correct and fair manner with the aid of an Excel spreadsheet.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 100% of the final mark.

Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

Written Exam with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 100% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

The written exam takes place in the computer room and consists of three parts:
1. a mix of closed and/or open theoretical questions that assess the knowledge of the civil and procedural rules of a liquidation and distribution.
2. a case or exercise of settlement (liquidation and distribution) that must be solved via the Excel method, whereby it is tested whether the student can independently apply the settlement distribution method. For the assessment of this component, we look whether the student can clearly distinguish the various stages of the settlement program in the correct order, and performs the correct cell references; whether the student correctly processes all relevant information in the spreadsheet; whether the student makes no reasoning errors; whether the student enters the data via cell reference whenever this is possible.
3. a number of explanatory questions about the case or exercise mentioned under point 2., where the student must explain how and why he processes certain data in the Excel sheet. More specifically, the student must state on which underlying theoretical principles and legal grounds (law, case law, legal theory) he has based himself. The student explains the legal framework of the settlement or distribution operation that was carried out.

One global final mark is awarded for this exam. To pass the exam, however, the student must obtain at least half of the points on each of the three separate parts.

The use of a law book or legal texts during the exam is mandatory. Students are not allowed to make annotations or cross-references in the law book or on the legal texts. Underlining, fluorescent markings and applying blank post-its are allowed.
Students receive individual feedback after the exam upon request.

Allowed unsatisfactory mark

The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context